The New York Times has released a new application for Android users that takes center stage with its stunning new interface. The UI is designed to be intuitive, with swipe controls allowing users to navigate through the main interface and articles with ease.
One of the standout features of the app is its consistent design language, which is inspired by Google's Android guidelines. This means that the app looks and feels like a native Android application, with a clean and modern aesthetic that is both visually appealing and easy on the eyes.
The Articles themselves now follow a singular format with richer media than before, making them more enjoyable to read. The UI takes center stage, but the application also contains a number of other useful features in the settings menu. Users can control things like notifications, categories, and their account settings.
If you decide to sign up for a New York Times subscription, you can use the app for free, although you are limited to 10 articles per month. Subscribers generally get full access to all articles. You can expect two kinds of notifications from this application: one is a breaking news notification that will pop up whenever big news is happening, and the second type of notification is called the morning brief, which serves up the important news from overnight.
There are also two kinds of widgets that you can use: a fairly standard widget that shows you the latest headlines, and a brand new widget that shows interesting photographs throughout the day. Tapping on the photographs will launch the relevant article. Additionally, there is a Twilight mode to darken the screen for easier reading.
The application allows users to switch between the US and international editions of the New York Times and multiple links to send feedback about the application if you have comments, complaints, or suggestions.
What we liked about the new New York Times application was its stunning interface. We've seen few news applications that have embraced the Android design guidelines as well as the New York Times has done here. We especially enjoyed the consistent swipe controls on the main interface and articles, as well as the grid layout for tablets.
The articles load quickly, of course, internet connection permitting, with swiping between categories and articles having a satisfying smoothness that screams high class. When combined with the simplistic elegance of the new interface, the notifications are consistent enough to be useful but not so consistent that it becomes an annoyance.
The morning brief is an excellent way to get caught up on what's going on, and we like that both types of notifications can be configured in the settings. Users have the ability to save articles and read them across multiple devices, although they do need a subscription to do that. This means users can start reading a story on their phone and continue reading it on their tablet or computer later, or vice versa.
The widgets included are simple but effective, and can be resized to an extent to fit your home screen needs.
The New York Times offers more than half a dozen subscription options, three of which are for their online content. Subscriptions are generally an all-or-nothing proposition, and we appreciate the ability to go for a cheap or more specialized option.
One thing that wasn't so great about the New York Times app was that it's a total refresh, which means many of the features from the old application are now gone. This has irked some folks, but the developers have been attentive in fixing issues and taking suggestions to reintegrate popular old features.
When scrolling through the photo widget, we noticed that there were only about half a dozen photos we would have liked to have seen more photos. There it does auto-update over the course of the day so this really is a minor nitpick.
The New York Times app developers clearly wanted to go in a new direction and they succeeded in their endeavor entirely. The emphasis on quick loading and buttery smooth performance meshes well with the high standards of the publication's content, and the two combined create one of the greatest news reading experiences available on Android today.
That said, the app is still in its infancy, and we expect more features to be rolled out over time to make up for the features lost in the transition. Overall, it's a fantastic application that you can read articles and test the app out for free before committing to a subscription. So there's no actual harm in trying it out for yourself.
The download link is in the video description below if you're interested.